Opening Reception: Hampton Lovers Presents In the Paint

Art, music and community gathering mark the opening of a sports-centered exhibition at the Historic Ward Rooming House in Overtown. The opening reception for In the Paint: Ernie Barnes and the Art of the Game takes place Friday, June 12, presented by Hampton Art Lovers. The free event introduces an exhibition drawn from The Norwood Collection and presented as a companion to Get in the Game: Sports, Art, Culture at Pérez Art Museum Miami.

Centered on the work of artist and former professional football player Ernie Barnes, the exhibition explores athletics as movement, performance, rhythm and Black cultural expression. Highlights include limited-edition hand-signed works by Barnes, selections from his Portfolio of Football Art, Dreams Unfold, The Drum Major, Head Over Heels, Olympic works, historic boxing photographs by Herb Scharfman and rare archival material related to Paul Robeson.

The exhibition also includes work by artists such as Romare Bearden, Barrington Watson and Basil Watson, expanding the conversation from neighborhood play and competitive intensity to Olympic spectacle and global athletic iconography. Presented in Historic Overtown, the exhibition frames sport not only as competition, but also as choreography, improvisation and a language of memory, identity and aspiration.

Admission to the reception is free with RSVP.